Microsoft official confirms two Nokia Android phone coming in Q2 2017

The Nokia brand pretty much lost an active space from the smartphone manufacturing side for a good couple of years. However, it is still viewed favorably by many tech enthusiasts, primarily due to brand recognition and because of the company’s vivid legacy of feature phones. Despite its absence, many users were avidly waiting for the company to make a strong comeback, with many fan boys rooting the company for devising a Nokia branded Android smartphone. This hope and dream kept alive by leaks and rumors that kept surfacing regarding Nokia’s projects. The wait is however, over now as a confirmation by a Microsoft executive has stated that the second quarter of 2017 will witness at least two new Android-powered smartphones released under the Nokia brand.

How is Microsoft related to Nokia?

The Redmond-based company was responsible for acquiring Nokia back in 2013, with the deal being finalized in 2014 but later on, Microsoft decided to sell off the brand as Microsoft’s Windows Phone ecosystem didn’t gain much traction with Nokia and Lumia phones.

Present Day: Who owns Nokia?

Microsoft finalized the deal for selling Nokia off to another Finnish company, HMD Global. The company was formed by former executives on Nokia’s Panel namely Florian Seiche and Arto Nummela. The company has acquired commercial rights for the Nokia brand for a period of ten years.

The rumors about Nokia releasing new Android-powered devices comes from the CEO of Mobile Device Commodities at Microsoft Asia who stated that HMD Global has scheduled the launch of two products in the last quarter of 2016 with two new smartphones slated for a release in the second quarter of 2017.

This statement is in line with the previous reports that were released regarding Nokia which stated that Nokia is all set to release new smartphones in the market in 2017. The devices were rumored to be Android-powered and might have a flavor of Nokia with Nokia Z Launcher layered on top of the latest version of Android. The devices slated for end of the year have also been sprinkled with similar rumors stating that the device would be Android-powered having metallic housings and equipped with 2K displays. HDM Global is allowed to build Nokia-branded devices with full access to patents owned by Nokia; however we are yet to witness if the devices would roll out in the allocated timeframe.